An 87-year-old woman tasered by deputies Thursday afternoon after she reached for a handgun on the porch of her Boring home died an hour later at a hospital, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said.

Detective Jim Strovink, a sheriff's spokesman, gave this account of the incident:

Deputies responded to reports that the woman was waving a semi-automatic handgun toward a man using a backhoe to install a new water line near her home at the Big Valley Woods Mobile Home Park, 32700 S.E. Leewood Lane.

The man radioed his wife, an assistant manager at the park, that the woman was threatening to shoot. The wife called 9-1-1.

Two deputies responded about 2:35 p.m. and cautiously approached the woman. After five minutes, they began negotiating with the

Liveleak opposes racial slurs - if you do spot comments that fall into this category, please report them for us to review.

i think most cops are taser happy however she did reach for her gun and got tazed an 87 year old with a gun can kill you just as quick as a 10 year old with a gun she died and the officer lived i'd have to say case closed.

hlabrake

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

jim_a49

I did a little googling. I found another version of the story that included pictures of the scene taken afterward.

The woman had just been hospitalized and was reported to be mentally deteriorating. She had threatened to shoot the officers. Also, her porch was high up so that the deputies could not simply lunge forward and grab the weapon.

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

leojw

Most times I hear these stories I'm all pissed off at the police involved.
In this case I'm thinking: "A bad cop would of shot her."
They CHOSE to use the tazer, because she was an old lady with a temporary lapse of reasoning. If I'd pulled the same stunt, I would of been shot 47 times.
verdict: Cops did a good job. Sorry lady.

john731863

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

lauriebhoy

Yea she reached for a gun, they should have shot her not tased her. She was getting special treatment they second they didn't blow her away. If that was a youth of ethnic descent do you think they would have used a taser?

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

john731863

way to take things into your own context, I am saying a double standard was in effect. Because she was old she was given FAR more lenience than others. Society treats people of different colour and age differently do you agree????? if so how can you deny me saying that if this was a youth of ethnic decent on the porch they probably would have shot him.
Hey wait a sec I think there is about half a dozen videos on this website of guys on porches reaching for guns getting shot up by a dozen officMore..ers.... and she was tazed. Racism had nothing to do with what I said and you threw it in there, so congradulations for using the word racism every time someone tries to bring up double standards in society based on age and gender. Its people liek you that prevent other from talking about these things openly for fear of being labeled a racist so again thanks :)Less..

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

Itchy999

Well of course they treat people of different ages differently... because age has a direct correlation to mental capacity, especially in the very old and very young. Would you be saying that if it was a five year old waving the gun around instead of an 87 year old?

The decision to use deadly force is something which the officer often has to decide in the blink of an eye and live with the rest of his life. It was their respect for the woman's age and mental state which caused them to use less-More..than-lethal force. That's a quality to be applauded in law enforcement.... not condemned.Less..

Itchy999

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

Western-Horseman

Comment of user 'Sarmatae' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

Comment of user 'gregory_peckory' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

I think they did what they had to.
The only thing that I disagreed with in the article, was the quote: "Although the incident did not involve the use of lethal force...".
Taser is lethal force many times. Simple as that. Cops know there is that chance.
Yet, what else could they do in that situation? I'd say that the Taser at least gave her a chance to come out of it alive.

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

allensp

should of just started beating the shit out of her with the collapsible baton to quell the masses of anti tazer people. i say we go back to beating the absolute fuck out of non-compliant perps with batons like it's been done for hundreds of years. nothing gets someones attention like a shattered patella.

Posted Jul-10-2010 By

john_b

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

liveleakblos

Seems to me if she had intended to shoot anyone she would have shot the backhoe driver long before the deputies showed up. They talked her into putting the gun down once they could have calmly done it again. Some important details are left out also..was the gun loaded...was the safety on.

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

rangerdgd1

So your saying it was loaded. Then I guess you have better info than the rest of us. Anyway the woman according to the article was in poor health and suffering from dementia. She didn't point the gun at them she reached for it. Plus she never fired it so it can be assumed waving it to scare people off was her intent. Common sense would tell you that a taser shock would not be advisable for a frail 85 year old woman. The point is they talked her down once why give up.

Posted Jul-9-2010 By

sallyII

Jesus Fucking Christ, someone the police were talking to, who had put down their gun at the request of the police, started to pick their gun back up.

There's no "crazy guard" on the trigger; the primer will ignite no matter how frail or mis-intentioned the puller of the trigger is. Preventing yourself or neighbors from getting shot means keeping the subject under control.

Only someone who watches too many movies or otherwise lost More..their grasp on how decisions in reality must be made stands to question the actions taken here.

The officers at least had a less-than-lethal option available, and were able to employ it.

I'm glad granny had a gun, as it was probably nice assurance for her as she got older for being able to feel secure.

But this is one of the outcomes that can happen if no one takes away sharp objects after granny dementia sets in, same as there are unforunate outcomes if no one takes away the car keys.Less..